Never judging books by their cover

How To Get A (Love) Life By Rosie Blake

by Bronagh on February 5, 2014

‘How To Get A (Love) Life’ is Rosie Blake’s first book.

Some people book last-minute holidays, walk barefoot in the grass or party on a week night. Not Nicola Brown. Nicola is the kind of girl who double-locks the front door, leaves the plastic covering on new furniture, sticks to a super-strict diet and definitely, absolutely Does Not Date.

Her colleague Caroline – loopy, warm and exasperated by her, knows that Nicola’s reluctance to lose control means she’s living only half a life. And so she lays down the gauntlet: Nicola must cast aside her hang ups and go on as many dates as it takes to find true love in time for Valentine’s Day.

The pick of local men is, quite frankly, a bit rubbish. And there are only three months until February 14th. Surely it’s an impossible task? But, as Nicola is about to find out on her dodgy dates, letting go isn’t quite as scary as she imagined. In fact, it’s rather a lot of fun…

This story is lovely and short and can easily be consumed in one seating.

The story is seen from the perspective of Nicola, a nice girl with a slight case of OCD and a love of routines, who suddenly realises that she no longer wants to be alone. So, with the help of her bubbly and outspoken work colleague Caroline and bat obsessed brother Mark, Nicola decides to break the mould and step outside her comfort zone and try her hand at online dating with the intention of finding true love by Valentine’s Day.

I loved this story, I thought it was a delicious and fun tale packed with fun characters and unfortunate scenarios that made for laugh out loud reading.

Our heroine of the story is Nicola, a straight laced girl who through scenes of flashbacks was heartbroken and still suffers the scars which makes her reluctant to look for something new. But with being surrounded by so many loved up couples, she decides to take the plunge and tentatively step into the world of dating. A world that is often intimating and hard, especially when Nicola finds herself dealing with an emotional teacher and a gentlemen who doesn’t like to part with money. But up for a challenge, Nicola takes the task on and sets about losing some of her control on life, surprising everyone particularly herself. Other characters that were especially fun were Caroline, Nicola’s kooky work colleague and Nicola’s brother Mark, often scenes with these characters were hilarious.

I liked how at the start of each chapter, there would be a short advertisement for dating and each advert would refer back to Nicola’s disastrous dates, I thought this was a clever idea to the already funny story.

A wonderfully lighthearted story that proves that the path to true love never runs smooth, ‘How To Get A (Love) Life’, is a witty and romantic tale that will leave you with a smile on your face and with such a bright and vibrant cover, you know you are guaranteed a laugh. Well done to the Novelicious girls for producing another fabulous book!